1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an automobile seat belt and more particularly to a safety belt that constrains both shoulders of a seated passenger in an automobile.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Over the many years that passengers have been transported in automobiles, it is relatively recent that passengers have been protected while riding in the automobiles by safety belts or some other means of restraint. The restraint means has evolved from a single lap belt to a generally accepted single, cross-body belt to a combination of a single lap belt and a generally accepted single, cross-body belt. The cross-body belt generally is disposed diagonally across the body of the passenger and joins the lap belt. The belt may be attached to the frame of the automobile, proximate the roof structure.
The cross-body belt as proved an important additional restraint against the passenger being catapulted against structure situated in front of the passenger, for example, the dashboard. A collision that would suddenly stop an automobile would not effect the momentum of a passenger unless the passenger were restrained to decelerate with the automobile. A lap belt would only restrain the passenger's middle with respect to the automobile seat, but will not restrain the upper body of the passenger which continues its momentum to be driven forward, perhaps into a steering wheel and, then, suddenly whipped backward. Collisions with parts of the automobile and the whipping cause sudden and violent trauma to the passenger's body.
Just as the lap belt has limited effect in restraining only parts of the body while allowing other parts to move relatively thereto, so too does the diagonal shoulder belt have limited effect. In the latter instance, one should may be restrained against the seat while the other continues to move forward. While this may pose little danger of injury from the passenger colliding with structure situated in front of the passenger, the relative movement of one shoulder with respect to another might cause other injuries to the body, such as fracture of the collar bone, whip-lash of the neck and back, or internal muscle and other structural, muscle, and tissue tears.
Government regulations promulgated by the Department of Transportation specify requirements for seat belt assemblies for use in passenger vehicles. Among these regulations are the requirements that seat belts be designed for use by only one person at any one time, that seat belts have a pelvic restraint designed to remain on the pelvis of the passenger under conditions of collision or roll-over of the vehicle and that an upper torso restraint be provided without shifting the pelvic restraint into the abdominal region.